Passing the Patent Bar in 2020

Real talk.

This is a guide on how I passed the United States Patent Bar during the spring of 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic occurred.

Think this exam is challenging? Consider first the 7% pass rate of Japan’s semi-equivalent of the Patent Bar to become a licensed benrishi.

Like many other exams, the Patent Bar is just another paper chase for a thinly walled old-school profession... Accept the existential hazing as a mere common vicissitude of ordinary society and pass it.

My prior experience before studying.

3 years prior experience working in patent law, one intellectual property law school course, and one patent law school course. Intended to do it earlier but life happens. Those with no prior background in patent law likely should prepare more than I did.

Time spent studying.

I targeted 150 45-minute pomodoros with 10-minute breaks. Focus Journal was a decent way of keeping track. I tracked my hours using an automatically calculating Google-equivalent of an excel sheet. I ultimately studied for a total of 166 45-minute pomodoros.

Practice questions completed.

I targeted 400 practice questions, as recommended, completing a total of 698 practice questions.

Study course.

I used a PLI course and binder from 2016. The online license renews and updates until you pass. The binder is a physical copy and doesn’t. PLI doesn’t provide you with digital copy, but you might be able to find a copy of it online. The online course is useful for its instructional videos that summarize and explain the binder, but mostly is very useful for its hundreds of practice questions and the prior 2003 etc Patent Bar exams, where every answer is explained.

If there is an equivalently credible practice question bank available, then I recommend that as an alternative to supplement the binder because PLI is expensive.

Otherwise, I recommend getting a PLI course and splitting it with somebody else.

Forethought into the strategy.

Shit happens, so give yourself extra cushion in terms of time allocated to study for the exam. I provided myself with 1/3 more time than my best predicted self would need to successfully pass, given no force majeure. When life happened (as it does), I knew I could take some time off from studies without unnecessary stress.

Overall I allocated three weeks where my ideal self would study eight 45-minute pomodoros per day.

Settle up everything in your personal life for a firm foundation of stability. End unstable relationships and friendships. Ensure financial stability.

Stability = predictability = predictably passing.

The Strategy:

1. Using PLI’s binder, I summarized my own outlines. I targeted the sections that are tested the most heavily, and then moved on from there. I outlined pretty heavily for the heavily tested sections, barely outlining for the remaining sections besides taking minor notes. As I did this, I also built my blanket outline, the skeleton of the MPEP. Here are the outlines that I built: skeleton, 2100, patentable subject matter, 700, 600, 200, 800–1200, 1200–2900, pending proceedings and post-grant proceedings.
2. I used spaced repetition.
3. I applied for the exam online one month prior to taking the exam. I didn’t lock in the exam date until the month of. You have until 48 hours prior to move back the exam date for $50 or so, within the time period allotted by the USPTO. The cost overall is roughly $500.
4. In the final week leading into the exam, I drilled prior exams and questions hard. I drilled half-day exams in exam format, beginning with the first 15-minutes available when you take the real deal during the tutorial to write my entire question grid and blanket outline. I especially focused on becoming fast and efficient at look-ups, because that is ultimately how you will pass the exam. I also re-familiarized myself with the Table of Contents of the heavily tested chapters.

What I actually did:

Week 1.

1. Researched Reddit’s Patent Bar forum for the most recent tips, formed a strategy, and then executed.
2. 35 USC 101, 102, 103, 112. Memorized AIA 102 completely; it will be heavily, heavily tested. Got the gist of pre-AIA 102 but knew it wouldn’t be really tested.
3. Next, I completed my studies of 2100, 700, 600, and then 200, in that order.
4. Review those materials and practice questions. Some decent flashcards: 35 USC, 700, 600.

Week 2.

1. Quickly went through 100, 300, 400, and 500. Know the details for those pretty solidly.
2. Then 1200 (appeals), and PCT (1800) because those are heavily tested. Don’t worry too much about those ones; understand the basic important parts and then expect to be able to look up those answers quickly.
3. Read pages 7–24 of this guide and practice its strategies on practice questions to make it second nature.
4. Start practicing look-ups in the MPEP.
5. Memorized the basics of pending and post-issuance procedures on page 4.
6. Memorized my skeleton outline and completed the review of the entire MPEP.
7. Here are sections that I prioritized based on online feedback: 2100, 102, 600, 700, 1400, 1200, 2200, 103, 101, 112, 100, 200, 300, 500, 1000, 2000, 2800, 1800.

Week 3.

1. Planned on doing all of the prior practice exams but ended up doing only three full-day past exams. I did only one full-day past exam under real standards (the second one I took). Scored 64% on the first exam, then 83% on the second exam. I used the exams as a way of assessing what points I needed to brush up on.
2. When I wrote my pre-exam answer sheet, I marked :35, 1:10, etc every ten questions, marking 1:30 at 25, etc, to understand that I was on schedule for the exam (roughly 3 minutes per question if I did them uniformly in an unnaturally utopian world). I recommend doing this in reverse because the real exam is a countdown clock instead.
3. Practice look-ups. This is the winning strategy. This is how I ultimately passed.
4. I took the day before the exam pretty easy and mostly reviewed questions that I previously missed, in addition to the table of contents of 1200 and 1800. I brushed up on AIA and pre-AIA and called it good. I got a lot of sleep.
5. Know that you need to pass 70% of the real questions. 90 of the 100 are real questions, meaning that you need to pass at least 63?

Exam Day.

1. Wrote my answer sheet grid, skeleton outline, post-allowance procedures, and blanket outline during the 15 minute introductory tutorial.
2. The exam ‘froze’ ~10 times. It’s like using the internet in the 90’s.
3. Was up against the clock for both sections, but was timely. There were hardly any pre-AIA questions, but know the basic differences. There were a few repeat questions from the old Patent Bar ’02 and ’03 exams.

What to expect after passing.

1. You will get a preliminary pass printout immediately after the exam.
2. Sometime in the next week or so you will get a letter from the USPTO instructing you about next steps. Pay $200, sign an oath/declaration, fill out the data sheet, bla bla.
3. Assuming everything goes well, don’t expect your registration number for roughly 2–3 months or so; don’t hold yourself out as a patent attorney or agent until it is published and whatnot. Government time…yeet.

Closing words.

1. Obviously, the sooner your pass the Patent Bar, the better. The best route is to pass before you go to law school. Otherwise, don’t sweat it. I have colleagues who got internships and patent job offers at big law firms during and after law school without having passed the Patent Bar, and they also informed me that many of the first and second associates still haven’t passed. Note that these are just some case studies, however. But of course, when juggling work, life, and studying, the chances of successfully studying and passing become more difficult… and don’t underestimate how burned out you might be after law school, and especially after the Bar Exam.
2. You will pass the exam if you are strategic and diligent. Be strategic and place probability in your favor. You are the common factor in your success!